One More Version of the Truth
by Too Many Hats
Summary: Remake of Another Version of the Truth. Naruto's death at the hands of Tobi awoke his Planeswalker's spark. With the infinity of the Multiverse at his fingertips, what will he become? Will he grow to be powerful enough to save his world? If he does, will he want to save it?
1. The Infinite, the Ancient and the Young

One More Version of the Truth

Chapter 1 – The Infinite, the Ancient and the Young

I don't like the way I did Another Version of the Truth, so consider this a remake. Some things change, some things stay the same. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I started that thing. I read the first few chapters of my story and to be honest, I didn't want to keep going. Near the end I got better, but still, far too many things in that story happened on a whim. Most of them, stupid whims.

SWEETBABYJESUSTHISISHAPPENIN G

Naruto woke, bleary eyed, on a carpet. Groaning, he pushed himself up, leaning back on his hands. Before him was a hallway, stretching endlessly till he couldn't make out even the most obvious aspects of it. To his left and right, and all the way down the corridor, were doors. The hallway was rather wide, leaving enough open space for at least four or five people to stand shoulder to shoulder. Every tenth door had a chair in the space to its right. "This is, uh... This is weird."

"Indeed."

"HOLY SHIT!" Naruto screamed, leaping forward and spinning to face the voice. He backflipped and landed on his feet, raising his fists. "Who are you? Where am I? What's going on?!" The man he was addressing stood with a sigh.

He had grey-ish skin, shoulder-length white hair, sharp features and eyes of orange, yellow and red like a flame. He wore a black dress shirt under an intricate metal chest-plate, finger-less gloves, black pants and greaves of the same style as the chest-plate. Over all of this was a black, leather long-coat adorned with pauldrons. At his hip was a longsword.

"Calm yourself, Naruto." His rumbling baritone speech revealed long upper canines. "You are in no danger. My name is Sorin. Until my release, your people had called me by the title of 'Nine Tailed Fox'." Seeing Naruto's imminent interruption, Sorin raised a hand and the blonde found himself unable to speak. "I know that you won't believe anything I say about my intentions, and I really don't care. I existed long before you as the Fox, and I lived countless eons as Sorin Markov before that."

Sorin clasped his hands behind his back and began to walk down the hallway. Naruto found himself following, even against his will. He began to fear. _"How powerful is this guy?"_

"Such intimate contact with myself over such an extended period of time gave you the spark. You should remember what activated your spark soon enough. You are now as I am; a Planeswalker. Surrounding us are the entrances to different worlds. However you see it is how your psyche chooses to recognize the Aether. Myself, I see a great stone staircase, endlessly spiraling up and down. It's all subjective. The only constant is some type of entrance into other worlds."

Sorin released his power over Naruto's jaw. "What the fuck are you saying? You're talking about a spark, and other worlds, and none of it makes sense!" Naruto growled. "I just want to go home!"

Sorin furrowed his brow. "Why would you want to go back there? You have the Multiverse before you, an endless expanse of possibilities! There are places to see that would make you weep for their beauty. There are people to meet that you will remember for the rest of your life. There are battles to be fought that will decide the fate of worlds! You would forsake all of that to return to your village? To return to people that hate you?"

Naruto snarled at Sorin. "I promised them that I'd protect them. How can I do that if I'm not there? How can I protect Sakura and Konohamaru and all of my friends if I leave them behind?"

Sorin smirked at Naruto. "How can you protect them if you're not powerful enough to protect yourself?" His smirk grew as Naruto's argument was destroyed. "You were killed by Tobi, that's why you're here. Your death woke your spark, and now, instead of being eaten by crows, you have the opportunity to make yourself strong enough to protect your precious village. Go; make yourself something to be feared. Then, if you wish, return to your village." Sorin turned and placed his hand on the handle of a door. "I'll now take my leave, but I suspect that we'll meet again. Planeswalkers always seem to attract fellow planeswalkers." The door opened, and the black-clad man vanished through it.

Naruto found himself alone in what looked to be an infinite hotel hallway. If that man was to be believed, Naruto had died, that guy was the Kyuubi, and there were an infinite number of universes that Naruto could enter and leave as he wished. But what about his home? What about his friends? _"Friends?"_ a darker part of him questioned. _"I don't recall having any friends."_

Naruto sat on the carpet of the corridor, folding his arms. "Well," he said, "if this is all real, I guess I got a few choices. I could go straight back home... but I don't know which door goes where!" He huffed petulantly. "I guess I'm gonna have to find my way back, world by world. At least I know which direction I have to go... I think." Each direction looked completely identical, what if he got turned around? Naruto roared in frustration.

Then, he had an idea. "I know what I'll do!" Naruto shouted, leaping to his feet. "I'll track that guy down and make him give me some better answers! Yeah!" The blonde ran to the door Sorin had used and flung it open, rushing in headfirst.

OHMYGODTHISCHAPTERISOVER

Well, there you have it. In all honesty, I don't know where I'm going to have them go. I'm making this fucker up as I go along, so any 'guesses' as to where Naruto and Sorin went are welcome. I'm not sending them to the Fate Stay Night world because that whole thing was retarded and I wish I'd never done it.

REVIEW!

Seriously, it's right here, just type something.


	2. Why'd it Have to be Snakes?

Chapter 2 – Why'd it Have to be Snakes?

I know this is a Naruto/Magic: The Gathering fanfic, but you have to remember that Magic takes place in the Multiverse, which is effectively everything. The thought that TECHNICALLY, every series ever has taken place in Magic isn't that far-fetched. Anyway, I had an idea. Check it out! Also, since I didn't explicitly state this before, this Naruto is from Shippuden. He's not twelve, more like fifteen or sixteen.

OHMANHEREWEGO

Naruto collided with something. That something was a red-haired boy. Naruto was fine, and the ginger was out cold on the stone floor. "Ow! Geez, what's- hey, is he okay?"

The boy and man accompanying the red-haired child stared at Naruto. "Who are you?" the boy asked, his voice contorting into an accent unfamiliar to Naruto.

"Uh, I'm Naruto. Sorry about, uh," Naruto waved his hand at the unconscious child. "Wasn't my fault, though. Hey, did you see a scary guy with white hair come through here? I'm kinda looking for him." They hadn't. "Damn... Anyway, what'cha doing?"

"I don't think that's any of your business!" the adult piped up.

"We're going to save my friend!" Naruto smiled at the black-haired boy. "My friend's little sister is in danger, and we're going to go save her."

Naruto grinned, hoisting the red-haired kid onto his shoulder with ease. "Well, I got some stuff to do, but I'm game. Let's go, kid!"

The child shot the adult a look, and spoke to an ornate sink in the center of the room. Naruto looked around as the sink moved. _"I'm in a friggin' bathroom?"_ Beneath the sink was a dirt slide. Naruto hopped in first, sliding down on his feet. When the adult reached the ground, things went bad.

Naruto didn't take too well to betrayal, even from someone he'd just met. The man was now unconscious, more so than the child on his shoulder, if that was possible. In any case, it was the black-haired kid and him against whatever danger that girl was in now.

The chamber they entered was dark and beautiful, carved entirely from stone. _"Lot of stone here. Maybe that's this world's thing... Stoneworld? Weird."_

A young man appeared, speaking to Harry. They engaged in heated conversation, one which Naruto quickly grew tired of. "Look, guy. I just got here, I'm not too familiar with this place and this kid's got a friend's sister that needs saving. I got stuff I wanna do, so can we hurry this up?"

The young man didn't like that very much. "If you wish so strongly to die, so be it." He spoke in a strange language reminiscent of the one that the kid had talked to the sink in. A snake of considerable size slithered from the eye of a face carved into the wall.

"Careful!" The child yelled. "If you look in it's eyes you'll die!"

That was probably bad. So far, dying had worked out okay for Naruto, but he didn't want to push it. He was confident, however, that he could kill this snake without too much trouble. The thing wasn't _that_ big. Manda had this guy beat by a massive margin, not to mention Gamabunta and Shukaku! Naruto lowered his headband from his forehead to cover his eyes. His heightened shinobi senses should be able to keep him alive long enough to kill this thing. "Hey, you!" he yelled. "You, with the face! Eat me!" Naruto ran forward, and, feeling the hot breath of the snake on his face, dove into the beast's mouth.

It worked before, didn't it?

The basilisk raised it's head, having eaten the blonde. It's victory was short-lived. It's midsection bubbled and burst, spewing a hundred Narutos from the wound. "Yeah!" yelled Naruto. "Alright boys, finish it off!"

Naruto spun and returned his headband to it's original position. "Alright, kid. Monster's dead, go save your friend. I got, uh..." Naruto stopped, realizing something. "Aww balls. Hey, kid, I have no idea where I am. Think you could show me around, or something?"

Harry's mind was a blur. There was a guy, and then Ron got knocked out, then he decided to help him, then Professor Lockhart got knocked out, then Tom Riddle showed up, then there was a snake and it ate the guy, then there was a lot of that guy and the snake was dead and "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" shouted Harry. "How did you get here? How did you do that? What- What's going on?!"

Naruto blinked. "Uhh... Well, that first one is the reason I'm here, kind of. I used the Shadow Clone jutsu to make a bunch of copies of me and kill the snake from the inside. I got eaten by a snake once- that snake was bigger than this one, and that's how I got out of it, so I figured it'd probably work again." Well, the kid was still confused, and now Naruto was confused too. "Okay, let's just get your buddies out of here and go somewhere warm that has chairs. Story's not that long, but I don't like the whole sewer vibe down here."

Three Narutos left over from killing the basilisk hefted the three unconscious people over their shoulders, and the small group made their way to the Gryffindor common room. Ron and Ginny woke in the common room, but Lockhart was out cold still. "Alright, I'm gonna tell you what I know. You two, don't freak on me, kay? Now, the reason I'm here... Well, I died, and then I wasn't dead anymore. There was a guy, and he was all 'You are now as I am!' and then I was all 'Hey, woah, what's going on?' so he told me that I died and that now I can go to different universes and stuff. I didn't understand it much, so he went into this world and I went after him to see if I could get a better explanation. That's when I showed up here!" Naruto grinned, and the kids stared at him.

"You're bloody mad!" Ron yelled. "What does any of that even mean?!"

"I don't know, idiot! That's why I'm here! Weren't you paying attention?"

Harry took this opportunity to shut both of them up. Ron was stubborn, and wouldn't stop shouting unless he won, got beat up, or woke everyone in Gryffindor up. "Shut up guys! Listen, we might not know where Naruto's from or anything, but he saved Ginny. We could at least try to help him find the person he's looking for." Ron grumbled, but nodded. Ginny hadn't said anything, she just stared at Naruto. The little girl reminded him of Hinata a lot, and not in a good kind of way. Ginny reminded Naruto of Hinata in the creepy, obsessive kind of way.

"Naruto, I think you should talk to the Headmaster tomorrow. If anyone can help you, it's Professor Dumbledore."

HOLYSWEETCAKESASCENECHANGE

The night came and went. Naruto had remained undetected, and after the children had breakfast, Harry brought him to see Dumbledore.

"Lemon drop, Harry?"

"No thanks, Professor. I came because I thought you could help my friend." Harry put the orange he had been carrying onto the ground beside him, where it poofed into Naruto. The old man furrowed his brow at the incident. "Y'see, he helped me out with something big, and he's looking for someone. Can you help him, Professor?"

Dumbledore sucked on his lemon drop. He wasn't sure how this young man had made his way into his office, but Harry seemed to trust him. Dumbledore didn't put all of his faith into the emotions of a twelve year-old boy, but so far, Harry was a decent judge of character. In any case, if Harry's friend held ill intentions, Dumbledore wasn't exactly a push-over. "Well, Harry, I'll certainly see what I can do. Now, what is it that you'd like to ask of me, young man?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "I'm looking for this guy..." Naruto gave an explanation of his situation, one very much like the one he'd given the night before. "He looks like this." A cloud of smoke later, and where Naruto had been standing was Sorin Markov. "Have you seen him?"

Dumbledore stared. What sort of magic was this Naruto person using? How was it that he'd been able to disguise himself well enough to enter his office, but now he could turn into other people without Polyjuice? The young man was extremely powerful, but that story of his turned some cogs in the Headmaster's head. Naruto was probably insane, but then again, the universe is a mysterious place. "I'm sorry to say that I haven't seen this person you're looking for. Are you sure that you opened the right door?"

Naruto poofed back to his normal appearance. "Well, I opened the same door he did, I'm sure of that. I don't really know how the whole thing works though! That's why I followed him in the first place! I don't know how the doors work, or even how time works in there! For all I know, this could be my home, just like a million years in the past, or future or something! Gah!" yelled Naruto, throwing his hands into the air.

Dumbledore's eyes unfocused for a second before he sat back in his chair, stroking his beard. "I understand that you've been through a very stressful situation, Naruto. It can't be easy to go through so much so quickly, but I have some advice, if you'll hear me. I think, instead of searching for answers from Mr. Markov, you should attempt to discover them for yourself. If what you say is true, then you have an amazing gift! You don't have any obligations to do anything right now. Go to new places, meet new people! Along the way, you'll probably learn more about your situation."

Naruto sat on the stone floor, crosslegged. He sat there, thinking, for several minutes. "Yeah!" he shouted, leaping to his feet. "It'll be like an adventure! This is gonna be so awesome!" Naruto bolted for the door, but stopped in his tracks. "Uh," he turned his head back towards the old man. "I don't know how to get back."

Dumbledore popped another lemon drop into his mouth. "Focus, Naruto, is the answer to many things."

Naruto grinned, nodded, and ran to the door. Breathing deeply, he grasped the handle. He focused on the hallway he'd found himself in before. He focused on the color of the walls and the pattern on the carpet.

He opened the door. On the other side, instead of the stone walls and floor of Hogwarts, was the warmly lit hallway that he wanted. "Thanks!" he yelled, turning to face them. "I wasn't here for very long, and I don't know if I'll ever be back, but I had some fun here. Thank you for your help, Professor. And Harry, never give up." Before either could respond, he stepped through and closed the door.

Harry thanked Professor Dumbledore and hurried off to class. When the child left, Dumbledore slumped forward in his chair, unconscious. From behind a bookcase stepped a man clad in black; Sorin Markov. He smirked at the door Naruto had left through. The young Planeswalker's story was barely out of its first chapter, and Sorin was eager to see what directions it would take.

THISCHAPTERISOVERNOW

What can I say? When I gotta write, I gotta write. I guess I'm in an inspired section of my life. I'm not sure how this will turn out, but this chapter served it's purpose. Naruto's always been relying on other people, no matter what he says. What will he do now that he's really on his own? Where will he go? Will he stay there longer than he did here? I don't know! Isn't it exciting?

Like it? Hate it? Have any ideas? Review!


	3. Someone Steal Your Sweetroll?

Chapter 3 – Someone Steal Your Sweetroll?

Alrighty, that last chapter was okay, in my opinion. I think I can do better, and I think this fic is gonna go places.

LOOKMOMNOHANDS

Naruto frowned and slumped against the door. This was probably going to be a lonely life. Well, until he made it back home, that is. Naruto stood and retrieved a kunai from his weapon pouch. The doors here were so infuriatingly identical! They were going to need some alterations if he wanted to know where he's been. But what to carve on this one? "Well," he muttered to himself, "that place had Harry, and they used wands and stuff..." Naruto shrugged and began to carve into the wooden door. Several minutes later, the door read 'Harry Potter' with a wand making sparks underneath it. "Oh, hey!" Naruto remembered that Harry had a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead; that would probably help him remember which world this was. Naruto carved the stem of the 'P' into Harry's scar. "Done!"

Now, where to go next? Naruto turned around. Before him stood another door. "It's as good as any other, I guess..." He opened the door. Looking into it, he only a wall of blackness. _"Night-time?"_ Naruto walked into the black and emerged into a flurry of snow. "Fuck?!" He recoiled and fell into a pile of the stuff. "Son of a bitch!" he sputtered.

Finally getting his bearings, he put his back to the wind. Around him were dark, stone walls. He saw several guards, wearing full-face helmets and blue cloth over their chain-mail armor. "Trouble?" one asked him in an accent that Naruto, once again, couldn't recognize.

"Uh, if you don't mind me asking," Naruto patted the snow off of his head, "where exactly am I?"

"Ah, had a good night, eh? Well, you're in Windhelm, home to Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King of Skyrim! You don't look like you're dressed for the weather; here, let's get you out of the snow." The guard pulled Naruto into a narrow passageway, sealed off from the elements. "If you need any help, just ask one of us guards. I've got to get back to my post, so try to stay out of trouble, you hear?" Naruto nodded and thanked the guard for his help.

Seeing no-one around, Naruto transformed into an unassuming young man in drab brown clothes. He walked down the passageway, coming out between two houses. He saw a child and a woman talking. "Is it true that Aventus Aretino is trying to summon the Dark Brotherhood?" the child asked. The woman dismissed the question, but Naruto's interest was piqued. He saw that one of the houses had a small sign reading 'Aretino'. Convenient.

The door was locked, but with nobody to see him, the simple lock proved no trouble. Inside the house he heard chanting. The voice belonged to a small boy. "Sweet mother, sweet mother, send your child unto me for the sins of the unworthy must be baptized in blood and fear." The boy had completed the chant two full times before Naruto made his presence known. "You came!" Aventus cried in joy. "I just knew you'd come! An assassin from the Dark Brotherhood!"

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. Why was such a little kid trying to contact an assassin? Who could someone of his age possibly want dead this badly? Naruto said nothing, instead attempting to seem like he _was_ the assassin the boy desired. It worked.

"I did the black sacrament over and over, with the body and the... things... and then you came! Now you can kill Grelod the Kind!" Naruto remained silent, putting up his best 'assassin' act, which was still working. "She calls herself Grelod the Kind. But she's not kind, she's horrible! After my parents died... I was all alone, and they sent me to the orphanage in Riften. I escaped though, and made it all the way back here! I need you to go to Riften and kill Grelod. Please, kill her and save my friends!"

Naruto nodded seriously and left the boy and the house. Once outside, he walked and pondered the mission he'd been given. He wasn't sure where Riften was, or even if this Grelod person deserved to die. Still, Aventus had gone through quite a lot to ensure the assassination. Naruto sighed. Was this the kind of life he was going to lead? A person's life had been put into his hands. Their death would bring the happiness of a small child, and maybe more, if he was to be believed. This was a person, though. They had wants, loves and dreams. Naruto decided to find Riften and see Grelod before he made any rash decisions. He'd made enough of those in his life.

It took him a bit, but he found the front gate of Windhelm. Stretching out from it was a long, stone bridge with a building at it's other end. Near that building was a man on a cart. "Hey there, youngster!" the man addressed him. "Where d'ya want to go?" Naruto informed him of his destination. "That'll be fifty septims."

Fuck.

Naruto didn't have any money. "Uh... oh! I, uh, forgot my wallet back in there!" Naruto pointed to the building he was near. "I'll be right back!" Naruto ran into the building. There was a woman behind a counter. She didn't notice him come in, and he snuck around behind her. On a shelf in the counter was a small, orange bag. Naruto looked up at the woman, and again at the bag. She'd see him for sure, unless... Naruto drew a kunai, and, as he stood, jammed the ring into the back of her head, rendering her unconscious. He caught her before she could fall, laying her behind the counter, out of sight. He grabbed the coin-purse and ran back outside.

"Here you go!" Naruto threw the bag to the driver and hopped in the back.

"Have you heard about the Thieves Guild?" the driver asked as he counted out fifty septims. "Most people say they're a myth, but I'm not so sure..."

Naruto paid the man no heed, but looked at the world around him. It reminded him greatly of the Land of Spring back when it was the Land of Snow. _"I wonder how the Princess is doing?"_ The cart jostled, beginning it's trek to Riften. Naruto shook the thoughts of home from his head. _"I can't go back yet, I'm not strong enough! After I'm done in Riften, I'll go exploring. Maybe this place has some cool stuff that could make me stronger!"_

SERIOUSLYWHEREAREMYHANDS

I thought I was going to make this chapter longer, but it is what it is. Tell me what you think! Do you like the idea of Naruto in Skyrim? I do.


	4. With Friends Like These

Chapter 4 – With Friends Like These...

I need to write longer chapters.

METHISAHELLOFADRUG

Naruto thanked the driver as they arrived at Riften. The road had been interesting, and Naruto had spied several spots that he planned on exploring a tad later. "Halt!" a Riften guard called out. "In order to enter our fine city, you must first pay a fine."

Naruto stared long and hard at the man, deciding on what to say. It was obviously a shakedown... that would do. "This is obviously a shakedown."

The guard shut up and opened the gate. Naruto smirked at him as he made his way into the Southeasterly town. He steered clear of a shady looking man leaning against a support for one of the buildings and began to wander about town. In the center was the marketplace, where there were several vendors selling various things. Jewelry, food, weapons, armor... Naruto made a mental note to get some weapons and armor. He'd never felt the need to before, but that was before he'd been killed. Maybe a little extra protection from that would be a good idea.

One of the last things he found was a building with 'Honorhall Orphanage' over the door. "This must be the place," he mumbled, quietly opening and closing the door behind him. He crouched and snuck to a doorway where he heard a voice.

"...and I will hear no more talk of adoptions! None of you are getting adopted, ever! Nobody wants you. You'll stay here until you come of age and are pushed out into the cold, hateful world! That reminds me. Anyone caught shirking on their chores will receive an extra lashing, am I clear?" The voice paused. "Good. Now what do we say?"

A disjointed chorus of children arose. "We love you Grelod, thank you for your kindness," they chanted fearfully.

"Good," the voice he now knew was Grelod's continued, "now off to bed with you, my little guttersnipes."

Naruto scowled. He remembered dealing with people like Grelod at the orphanage he'd lived at. Naruto had the power to do something about this one, though. Naruto peeked his head into the main room. It was lined with beds, each bed containing a small person. He saw a bit of himself in each one, and they brought a tear to his eye.

Grelod would die by his hand.

Naruto leaped, clinging to the ceiling with chakra and crawled across, quickly but silently, to the doorway on the opposite side of the large, communal bedroom. He dropped to the floor and entered Grelod's room, closing the door behind him. Grelod was already asleep in her bed. Apparently tormenting the children under her care had tired her out. Naruto spied a few bags of gold on her nightstand and desk. She wouldn't be missing those.

Naruto approached her bed, kunai in hand. Not giving himself a chance to second-guess his decision, he flipped the kunai into a reverse-grip and, mustering a good deal of his strength, plunged the knife through the old woman's temple. He wiped the kunai on her bedsheets, retrieved the gold, and left the orphanage under cover of night.

He walked silently through the moonlit streets of Riften, eyes on the moon. _"Grelod's dead. I killed her. Did she deserve to die? Yeah, kinda. Is this the kind of person I am now?"_ Naruto stopped, looking straight forward with unfocused eyes. _"I guess it is." _

HELLISADRUGOFAMETH

Naruto emerged, blinking, into the sunlight. How long had he been in that ruin? It had been a while, but what was more worrying was what he'd been fighting in there. Dried-up people with glowing blue eyes? "What the fuck is this place?! Were those zombies or something? Did I just fucking fight through some ancient god-damn zombie ruin?! AAAAAGH!" he roared to the sky. Sighing, he made his way up the stairs leading out of the pit. He smiled to himself. "It was kinda cool though. Got some cool stuff too..."

Through the forest, Naruto spied something coming at him, rather quickly at that. It was a man. "Hey there!" the man called as he slowed to meet Naruto. "Got a message for you." He rummaged through his messenger bag and handed a folded piece of paper to Naruto. "That's all I got. Back to work!" The messenger spun and took off in a new direction.

Not bothering to wonder how the man had known to give him this specific note, or where to find him, Naruto opened the message. Prominently displayed was a black handprint. Underneath were the words 'We know.' That couldn't be good. Vague messages about knowing something you've done are never good.

In any case, Naruto had been up fighting zombies all night, and he was tired. _"Maybe the Bee and Barb has an empty room..."_

DRUGSAREBADMMKAY

As Naruto was making his way through the Riften town center, ignoring the various merchants peddling their wares, he was stopped by a large, green man. "Hey kid." The man's voice was gruff, and the tusks coming from his lower jaw placed the man quite firmly as an orc. "Have you heard about the Dawnguard?"

Naruto wanted to keep going into the Bee and Barb, but something told him to stop and hear the man out. "No, sorry. What is it?"

Naruto wasn't sure whether the man looked happy or annoyed, but Naruto'd already met a few orcs here in Riften, and they usually looked upset about something. Maybe those tusks hurt? The orc's gravelly voice shook him from his thoughts. "The Dawnguard is an organization dedicated to wiping out the Vampire menace. Those bloodsuckers that wantonly attack our cities and plague us with their very existence. What do you say to joining up?"

Naruto looked at the dirty wood planks below him. Naruto looked at the quickly darkening sky. Naruto scratched the back of his head and shut one eye. "...I'll think about it."

Naruto still wasn't sure if this guy was upset or not, but the orc put a mark on the map that Naruto'd acquired after his job with the orphanage. The Dawnguard base wasn't that far from Riften. _"Maybe I'll check that out later..."_ He decided that after his long day of zombie-killing, he deserved a good night's sleep, however. The Bee and Barb was bound to have at least one open room!

SCENEBREAKSALLUPINTHISBITCH

As he woke, Naruto noticed something. This something was severely unsettling. This was not his room in the Bee and Barb. "Ah. Awake, are we?" The voice was a woman's. Bolting from his bed, Naruto drew a kunai and faced his kidnapper. She was dressed in a skintight, black and red leather outfit with a mask and hood. "Ooh, you're jumpy. Quick, too. We don't have to fight, you know." Naruto kept his kunai readied, but nodded for her to continue. "The Aretino boy was looking for the Dark Brotherhood, looking for myself and my family. By all rights, Grelod was our contract. A kill... that you stole. A kill you must repay." She motioned to the other side of the room. Not willing to take his eyes off of her, a shadow clone was made to see what it was. "Nice trick." Naruto ignored her remark and saw what the clone had seen.

Three people, bound and hooded kneeled behind him. "You want me to kill them?" Naruto asked.

The woman laughed. It was pretty, but dark; almost heavy. "What I want you to do is kill _one_ of them. One of these three people has a contract out for them; someone wants them dead. It's up to you to decide which one of them someone wants dead, which one of them deserves death." She said no more, leaving Naruto to make his choice.

The three consisted of a man, a woman, and a khajiit, in that order, from left to right. Naruto approached the man first. "Who are you?"

"My, ah, my name is Fultheim... Fultheim the Fearless. I'm a soldier- well, mercenary, r-really. You know, a... a sellsword. I've lived in Skyrim a-all my life. I'm a n-nobody, really. Can't you j-just let me g-go?" Naruto didn't say another word to the man.

"_This blubbering idiot says he's a soldier, does he? Yet here he is, begging for his life. Pathetic."_ Naruto caught himself. _"That's not me! Is this me? Am I a..."_ Naruto thought back to his childhood for a moment. _"Well. I suppose I am this bitter."_

Next was the woman. "Who are you?"

"It's none of your damn business who I am! If you're going to kill me, just do it already! You make me sick, you monster! As Mara as my witness, if I didn't have this hood on, I would spit in your face!" shrieked the tied-up woman.

Deciding to give her another chance, Naruto spoke again. "Ma'am, I didn't kidnap you. It's not my intention to hurt you. I just-"

"I don't give a damn what you did or didn't do! You're a murdering piece of shit, and that's all that matters. Fuck you!"

Naruto stood and addressed the third captive, the khajiit. "Who are you?" It was the same question, in the interest of fairness, that he'd asked the others.

"Ahh... Vasha, at your service. A professional like yourself, I am an obtainer of goods, taker of lives, defiler of daughters. Have you not heard of me? Perhaps I will have my people carve my name into your corpse. A reminder for your soul."

Naruto looked from the man, to the woman, and finally to the khajiit. A cowardly mercenary, a woman who reminded him rather strikingly of Konoha's villagers, and a self-proclaimed crime-lord. Crimson encircled his irises. _"All of them deserve death."_ Naruto created two clones, one for Fultheim and one for Vasha. He would kill the woman himself. The red bled slowly further into his blue eyes, and his pupils gained points.

Vasha and Fultheim died screaming as steel pierced their hearts. Naruto's eyes were the color of blood as he tore the hood from the woman's head. "You will not die as they did. People like you we**re the reason I was alone. People like you were the reason I was hated."** She opened her mouth to retort, but his claws silenced her. **"Before you die, you will know fear!"** He saw it in her eyes. Behind the pain of her destroyed face, he could see that she feared him, and it felt good. In her, he saw the people of Konoha. He saw the man that sold him rotten meat. He saw the children that threw stones at him. He saw Mizuki. He saw Sasuke. They feared him, and he liked it. Naruto grinned and tore her head from her body.

The assassin that had given him the grisly task had moved from her casual position on a bookshelf to stand rather closely behind him. "That was... incredible." She draped her arms over his shoulders and whispered into his ear. "You are a sight to behold. Join me. Join the Dark Brotherhood. Deep in the forest of Falkreath lies our sanctuary. When asked at the door, respond 'Silence, my brother'." She nipped his ear. "Name's Astrid. See you at home."

In the silence of death, he was left to ponder himself.

CHAPTER END

I would have ended with something funny like I use for scene breaks and the other endings and beginnings, but it didn't feel right with the way I ended the chapter. Yes, I know that the Kyuubi is gone, what happened wasn't the Kyuubi. I'll get around to explaining that eventually, so don't worry your little heads about that. I think I did really good on this chapter, maybe this whole 'take your time' thing is a good idea.


End file.
